Tempest
Tempest was a witcher of the School of the Cat, active throughout the 13th century. She was the first and possibly the only woman to survive the Witcher trials. Biography Childhood / Backstory Tempest was born to live a poor life. She remembers little of her parents; her father was a drunk and her mother never spoke against him, afraid to get beaten. They died in a fire when their little home was sat ablaze when a candle was knocked over in one her parents’ bigger fights, yet the little girl managed to escape the hungry flames. Due to her parents’ continuous absence and eventual death , she was forced to live on the streets, surviving by begging, borrowing and stealing anything she could. As Tempest grew older, she became laundress at the age of 11, but she was quietly a burglar by night, stealing jewelry and diamonds from rich people's homes. One night she attempted to steal from a particular man passing through an alleyway. She stole his coin pouch and ran, but he was swift to catch her. Upon being grabbed, she pulled out a small dagger of hers and stabbed the man in the arm. Strangely, he wasn’t angry, but amused. It would then turn out he was a Witcher of the School of Cat, and he offered her to join them, to which she agreed. She has undergone the extensive training, ruthless mental and physical conditioning, and mysterious rituals in preparation for becoming an itinerant monster-slayer for hire. As a Cat Witcher, she developed fighting styles focusing on speed, precision, and agility. As a result, Tempest as well as her equipment do not deal a lot of raw damage, but can inflict deadly critical hits. By extension, her gear is designed to maximize flexibility and provide the greatest possible range of motion. Life as a Witcher Assassin Unlike other witchers, those from the School of the Cat were not committed to a position of neutrality. As a result, they were often hired as spies and assassins. And it's no wonder – assassinating a nobleman usually paid better than slaying a drowner. Tempest was no different. During her first decades as a Witcher‪, she would soon become of the most feared assassins, able to get close to noblemen and alike by using disguise; usually by coloring her hair with herbs and using a vail to conceal her mutated eyes. This usually worked best at gatherings and balls, and even though she’d find herself without her twin swords, a dagger was all she needed. And when her target was taken care off, she’d slip into the night, never to be seen again. This is also the reason she was never discovered and thus kept bounties away. ‬ Exile The Witcher Tournament was a tournament between Witcher schools. However, a fraction within the school engaged in a plot against the Wolves together with King Radowit II's mage Astrogarus. They were convinced that if they help the Kaedwenis to kill off the Wolves, they would be given a special position within the new witcher order under the King's orders. The plot turned badly – for both schools. Just after the Cats attacked the disarmed Wolves at the Tournament, the King ordered his men to kill off all the witchers, showing that the sole reason of the Tournament was to get rid of growing witcher schools. Before it took place, Tempest had refused to take part of it and was afterwards exiled from her school, as they believed her to be a traitor. Since her exile from the school of cat, her ways had somewhat become more redeemable, though, still she was so far from a saint as one could be, the trademark Feline aggression lurking beneath the surface. As the decades went by, she has supressed most of her wicked past. Kidnapped Hearing about a contract on a Bruxa, the Feline traveled to Novigrad. Arriving, it suddenly came clear to her it had been a false contact when she asked around, yet before she knew it, Ireneus var Steingrad, a mage, had adducted her. Later she found herself sharing a cell with a fellow Cat Witcher, Kiyan. The two where then misused by Steingard and had been the subjects of cruel experiments. Kiyan, to test the physical and mental endurance of witchers. And he attempted to make Tempest fertile, possibly to produce more Witchers, for some reason. He listened to nothing. They were but experiments to him. Tempest and Kiyan formed an incredible bond during their captivity. To begin with, they formed plans of how to escape, and Kiyan even made a noble promise of staying by Tempest’s side. Unfortunately, it wouldn’t go that way. Ireneus var Steingrad continued his study, turning the former witcher Kiyan into a crazed and tormented shell of his former self, driven only by immense pain. Mad Kiyan. He killed the mage, but it was too late for Tempest to save him. She did try and was attacked by Kiyan, his sword slashing across her torso, leaving a mark from her shoulder down across the chest. She fled, but has since then regretted not putting him out of his misery. First Northern War During the first Northern War, Tempest had been enlisted by Cintran officers after she succeeded in fulfilling a contact upon a Basilisk. They offered her a hefty reward once the war was won, and seeing as Cat Witchers had never valued neutrality unlike most of their brethren, she accepted. Unfortunately, it proved to a mistake. First came the Battle for Marnadal. Cintra's army showed up in the valley but it was surrounded by an overwhelmingly larger army of Nilfgaard, and was almost completely destroyed. Tempest, without much hesitation, managed to join the army in breaking through enemy forces and retreating back to Cintra. Yet the horror was soon from over. After four days of resistance, the army of Nilfgaard finally managed to break into the keep and the Slaughter of Cintra was upon them. Cintran women killed their children, the women were in turn killed by the men, and the men then committed suicide. Figuring all hope was lost and she would never see any coin, Tempest fled, yet not without getting injured on her way past enemy troops, leaving behind the completely razed city of Cintra. Thus not there to join the victory of Battle of Sodden Hill. Assassin in Rivia After the Second Nilfgaard War, Meve has won her kingdom back and reclaimed her title of Queen of Lyria and Rivia, all would seem well. Yet it was not. Enemies of the state still lurked and Meve needed them taken care off discreetly. Thus she trusted her oldest son Villem (@VillemTheFirst) to find someone that could make certain it would be done. It ended with being Tempest that was summoned, as the prince had heard rumors she had a past as a highly successful assassin - and as most Cat Witchers, she was prone to using her steel sword more than her silver; it always payed better. Arriving at the castle, Tempest accepted the task. Over the next weeks, she found and took care of the conspirators and Nilgaardian spies, proving to live up to her deadly reputation. She also spent a lot of time with Villem, whom in fact grew rather fond of the Witcher. Unfortunately, he never got the chance to make any advances before she had to set off on new adventures. He did, however, give her the title Tempest of Lyria (stating she had the same grace and beauty as those lands) as becoming-king, knighting her in secret seeing as women could by law not be so. He also made it clear she was welcome anytime. Guardian of the sacred wine Castel Ravello Estate is known to produced Sangreal, a wine made exclusively for the ruling family. The estate later fell into someone else's hands after Fabricio was arrested for treason, having sold the exclusive Sangreal wine to someone outside the Ducal Family. This someone would be Tempest, someone Anna Henrietta (‪@ToussaintRule‬) trusted could act as a guardian and make certain such a crime would never occur again. After all, the Cat Witcher had done successfull work for the duchess before. Even when Tempest is not in Toussaint, they dare not cross her, knowing better than to awaken the wrath of a Witcher. Romances Tempest have had many lovers and romances, seeing as she's a woman with needs, like any other Witcher. She often takes a likening to other Witchers; perhaps because they can match her endurance and they are the last that’ll judge her. Physical Description Curly snow white hair and crystal blue cat eyes. Tempest has a few minor scars on her body, yet the most noticeable ones are the deep scar going from her right shoulder and left down across her chest as well as the many nasty marks across her back from a Redanian whip. She is rarely struck as her style of fighting heavily relies on speed. Personality Freedom - That’s the core theme. Tempest is the girl who grew up in squalor and poverty, and built herself into a woman who does whatever she wants, obeys no-one and is constrained by nothing. She will always, always make her own rules and then take pleasure in changing them at a whim – since she won’t obey even her own rules. A corollary to this need for freedom is that Tempest trusts very little, and should be trusted by no-one.Being less than self-reliant is anathema to her, making her less free and more vulnerable. Generally, for much of her life, she has been a loner. She just doesn’t need company and can function perfectly well living alone, though she has nothing against having friendships… within limits. She is very private, hard to read and unpredictable. She's mysterious and has a certain catlike aloofness when it comes to her privacy. When pushed — and it may not take that much — The White Lioness can be remarkably devious, manipulative and brutal. Her plans are crafty and cunning, and employ the strengths and weaknesses of her opponents against them. The vast majority of Tempest's interactions with men are deceitful. She relies on her little beauty and her mighty charm and wit to manipulate them and get what she actually wants – usually a quick round in the hay as she as a Witcher has an increased libido and finds sex an easy way to get rid of tension from the Path. Trivia * She was given the name Tempest due to the fact she was born during a nasty storm. * Her exact age is unknown, but she has passed 8 decades